Parent night and the field trip

I went to Parent Night at Baby Mouse's school yesterday. I worried that after the conflict at the IEP meeting, that it would be awkward, but it went well. She told me how much she loved having Baby Mouse in her class, and all the ways she's been working with him. It sounds like the aide is not being much help to her. The aide sits and allows Baby Mouse to get frustrated and meltdown, when she should be trying to calm him. I've been told she's a good aide, but I think she's not cut out for handling Baby Mouse. The teacher told me that she does not want Baby Mouse to leave her class, and that she thinks that half days in each class is the best placement for him. I apologized for how emotional we were at the meeting, and she was very understanding, especially when I told her how frustrated we were with the Special Education Coordinator. Apparently we are not the only people who have trouble getting along with her. Daddy Mouse spoke to the mother of another child in the special education system, and she is not a big fan of the special education coordinator either. I told Baby Mouse's teacher about his suspension last May, and she was agreed with me that it was a very bad decision.

Baby Mouse went to the classroom for children with behavior problems today. His teacher accompanied him, and by all accounts, he enjoyed his time there. He actually participated in a football game today. In his regular PE, while the rest of children are playing kickball, he sits by the door. He says he's there to catch the ball if it starts to go out. I asked him what he did today, and it sounded like he played most of the day and watched movies. If that is the case, I'm not too happy about that. I expect whatever placement he ends up in that he'll be doing the same work as the rest of his classmates, not some watered down version with him spending most of the day playing and watching DVDs. I'm going to allow him to go for the rest of the week, and after that we'll decide what to do next.

I asked Baby Mouse what he wanted to do, and he said that he wanted to go back to the behavior class the rest of this week, and then return to his regular classroom next week. I broached the idea of him spending part of the day in his regular class and the rest in the behavior class, and he said he'd be O.K. with that. When I asked him about spending all day in the behavior class for the rest of this year, he started yelling and said he wanted to stay in his regular class, and that he'd only go this week. He loves his teacher, and he does not want to be separated from her or from his classmates.